Brian believes that someone else was in the room with him when he found his mother's body. Doug fears that he will never see his son again. Clare commits a sudden, impetuous act that puts her career in grave jeopardy.

Did Brian kill his own mother in an alcoholic haze? Who stole Doug and Zoe's baby? Clare feels the heat of two high-profile cases with personal connections. Brian remembers nothing of the night his mother died--until an attack in prison jars his memory.

Clare is assigned to investigate the bludgeoning death of an elderly woman as quickly and quietly as possible. The prime suspect is DS Brian Hall, a former member of her murder team. DCI Doug James refuses to accept that his old colleague is a murderer.

A vicious attack puts a police officer in the hospital. Clare learns that there's more to the story than DCI Doug James has told her so far: the death of an innocent bystander during the riots, and allegations of abuse against the priest.